Befriending the Monsters
by Galionne
Summary: A collection of one shots centering around JP characters befriending their prehistoric killers instead of dying. (Characters done so far: Donald Gennaro, Dennis Nedry, Robert Muldoon, Eddie Carr, Dieter Stark)
1. Donald Gennaro

Cold. Donald Gennaro felt incredibly cold.

His back and the left side of his body felt as if they had been beaten with a baseball bat. His head was throbbing painfully like it was about to explode. It took a moment for all the sensations to sink in, but he slowly realized the coldness he was feeling was from his clothes being soaking wet and lying on hard stone floor. The gentle pitter-patter of rain reached his ears, along with a deep, low rumbling sound. Keeping his eyes closed, he tried to remember what had happened before he blacked out.

Hm... He remembered Hammond's park... He was... Visiting there...? Yes, that was it. He was visiting John Hammond's dinosaur park. He had gone on the touristic tour with the rest of the group... He was in the jeep with the two kids when the cars had stopped. They were stuck there for a while. A huge storm had rolled in. And then the T-Rex...

 _Oh god._

The T-Rex escaping. Him running to hide in a nearby out house. A loud roar. The cabin falling appart around him, as Ian Malcolm was thrown to the side. The T-Rex looking down at him while he was being pelted by freezing rain. The animal's hot breath on his face, the jaws opening ; teeth flashing right by him; the feeling of being lifted up...

Everything came back to him in a flash. Donald shot up and opened his eyes- only to scream in sheer terror as he saw the T-Rex lying right in front of him, its head just a few feet from him. He tried frantically backing away as the carnivore stirred and slowly lifted its head. He felt a wall behind him and realized he was in a cave, the Rex blocking the entrance with its body. The huge dinosaur slowly moved forward and Gennaro screamed louder -practically screeching now-, flattening himself against the wall as much as humanely possible. He sobbed uncontrollably and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Please..., he begged weakly, Please... No..."

He waited, terrified, for the jaws to bite down on him and to be torn to bloody pieces. He waited for the sharp teeth to pierce through his flesh. He waited to be devoured. He waited. Waited.

Yet, nothing happened.

Donald sniffled and cautiously re-opened his eyes. The T-Rex was still lying there, its big yellow eyes staring at him as the animal seemed to observe him curiously. Its huge head couldn't be more than 3 feet away from him. It was so close he could see its nostrils flaring and feel its hot breath on his legs. Yet for some reason it didn't attack. Gennaro sobbed softly, shaking but keeping quiet. He stared at the large animal wondering why it was just sitting there when he simultaneously became aware of a burning pain in his left arm. He took a deep breath as sweat rolled down the back of his neck and slowly, carefully, without taking his eyes off of the T-Rex brought it in front of him to take a look at it. His forearm was badly bruised and had a large gash across the back of it which was still bleeding. He must have gotten hurt when the debris of the out house fell on him-

The animal suddenly lifted its head again and Gennaro jumped and shrieked, trying to back away once more- to no avail. He saw the huge jaws get closer and closer to him until they were just inches away, opening slowly, revealing a row of huge teeth. He expected them to clamp down- but instead watched as the huge tongue rolled out and the T-Rex gently lapped up the blood from his arm. It growled softly -sounding almost like a purr- and gently nudged his side. Gennaro didn't dare move. He kept perfectly still as the animal lapped at his arm again, the hot slimy tongue doing a surprisingly good job at cleaning up his wound. The animal looked at him curiously, sniffed him and purred again before putting its head down on the lawyer's legs. Donald gasped and squirmed a little but the weight was too great ; pinning him down and pushing him back against the wall.

Everything abruptly went quiet again. All he could hear was the slow breathing of the huge T-Rex as its abdomen rose and fell gently. Its eyes closed slowly as all of its muscles seemed to relax. Was it... Falling asleep...? Gennaro couldn't believe it. He was on an island in the middle of a violent storm ; where dinosaurs were roaming freely ; stuck in a cave ; with a T-Rex litteraly sleeping on his legs.

And somehow he was still alive and relatively unscaved.

The large animal purred again softly. Donald hesitantly lifted his hand and gently touched the top of its head. The skin felt surpisingly warm and smooth ; so much so that the big head pressed up against him was actually starting to warm him up. He ran his hand along the top of it slowly, listening as the animal emitted a low growl similar to the sound he had heard after waking up. Its thick tail brushed across the stone floor before curling up between its legs. Strangely enough, with the way it was purring and lying down on Gennaro's legs the T-Rex almoost looked like a cat. A giant, scale-covered, possibly man-eating cat. Taking a nap...

Gennaro himself was beginning to feel drowsy. Despite the terror he had been experiencing and being pumped full of adrenaline just moments earlier, his body was beginning to shut down from physical and emotional exhaustion. His racing mind slowed to an almost stop, leaving him with only one lingering thought he was finding easier and easier to embrace.

 _"Maybe this is just a dream..."_ Gennaro thought to himself.

How else could he still be alive? He was sitting in a cave with a god damnn Tyrannosaurus sleeping on his legs, for crying out loud! This was probably just a dream and he was going to wake up sooner or later, in a hotel room or maybe at home... Gennaro shifted to make himself more comfortable and leaned forward, folding his arms on top the T-Rex's head and placing his head on top, his left cheek pressing against the warm skin. He took one last look at the animal before closing his eyes and allowed himself to slowly drift away, rising and falling ever so slightly with every breath of the big animal.

Yeah... That was it. A warm, comfortable, very real-feeling dream...


	2. Dennis Nedry

Dennis groaned and wiped the sweat off of his forehead. He could hear the rain outside pounding on the roof and windows of his jeep as the storm raged on. With a heavy sigh, he pushed the gas pedal again, but the back tires only slid around in the mud as the motor roared. He was completely, definitely stuck...

"Goddammit..."

He turned the car off and opened the door, holding his arm up to shield himself from the pouring rain. He'd missed the boat already. He didn't even have to check his watch to know that. He knew the boat was gone. Gone with his _fucking money_.

"DAMMIT!"

Nedry kicked the front wheel with a scream of rage- which quickly turned into a howl of pain as the crushing shock shot from his toes to the rest of his leg. He leaned against the hood of the car hissing and swearing under his breath, balling his fists in anger. _Why him? What did he do to deserve this?_ With another exasperated sigh, he wiped his face and shoved a hand down the inside pocket of his raincoat. He pulled out a beef jerky bar, unwrapped it and took an angry bite out of it, exhaling slowly as he chewed. He knew Dodgson wasn't going to forgive him for this... The deal was off. And he was also gonna have to find a way to get back to the visitor center now...

Great.

Dennis was about to take a second bite when a soft hoot caught his ear. He turned around just in time to see a head emerge from the ferns a few feet away from him. It seemed quite big compared to the neck that was supporting it and looked reptilian, with two large V-shaped crests above the eyes. The animal hopped out of the ferns and Dennis could see it was quite short- about 4 feet tall. It hooted again and moved closer, tilting its head to the side to look at him curiously.

"What do you want?, Nedry mumbled as he looked it up and down, ... What the hell even areyou?"

The dinosaur sniffed the air for a moment before moving a little closer. It was intently staring at the beef jerky in Nedry's hand, which the technician certainly didn't fail to notice.

"What, you want this?" he asked

He moved his hand from left to right, watching as the animal turned its head to follow his movements. His gaze moved from the dinosaur to the bar a few times.

"... You're gonna leave me alone if I give you this?"

The small dinosaur chirped and hopped closer.

"... Alright, Nedry sighed, go fetch..."

He tossed the bar in its direction and the animal caught it in its jaws before swiftly disappearing back into the bushes, squealing happily. Dennis shook his head and walked over to the front of the car. He wasn't even really hungry anyway... He grabbed the winch cable coiled up at the front of the jeep and pulled a good length out before slowly making his way down the hill. He needed to get the car out of the mud. And if he could just wrap the cable around a strong tree, then maybe he could pull himself over the hill and onto the road below and-

" _Shit!_ "

One of the rocks broke off under his weight and Dennis lost his balance ; screaming as his foot landed at an angle and he felt his ankle crack ; a sharp, burning pain shooting up his leg. He rolled over and tumbled all the way down the hill, bouncing on the sharp rocks and bashing his head on the ground before landing in a puddle of muddy water. The forest around him suddenly seemed to go quiet, safe for the rushing of rain and wind. Dennis moaned painfully, still dizzy, and tried to push himself up from the water. He could feel blood trickle from his nose down his face, dripping thickly onto his yellow rain coat. His hands sunk into the mud as he pushed himself to his knees. He tried to stand up when an excruciating pain suddenly exploded from his ankle, making him scream and fall over to his side, gasping for air as his leg shook uncontrollably.

The storm was growing even wilder now. Nedry was being violently pelted by freezing rain, his clothes and hair soaking wet despite his yellow coat. The wind was harsh, blowing bits of leaves and dirt into his face. The thunder, too, was growing terrifyingly loud. Dennis sobbed quietly and began slowly dragging himself up the hill. With a shattered ankle, everything suddenly looked a lot more terrifying...

It took him about 10 minutes to get up the embankment, grabbing at the wet rocks and pushing himself forward with his valid foot as best as he could. When he finally reached the car he was drenched in dirty water and covered in mud. He pulled the back door open and crawled inside before closing it and slowly lying down across the back seat. He took a moment to calm down as his heart pounded wildly in chest and all he could hear was the blood rushing through his ears.

Something chirped just outside the window, making Dennis jump and sit up to look.

"You again?"

The small dinosaur from before was standing just outside looking in at him. It chirped a little and Nedry noticed it had a cylindrical object in its mouth: his DNA canister. It must have fallen out of his pocket when he fell.

"Wh... What are you doing with that?! Give me that!"

Without thinking he sat up and leaned over, opening the door with one hand and holding the other one out to try and grab the canister. The animal chirped and suddenly jumped into the back seat next to him. Nedry yelped and backed away to the opposite side of the car.

"No! Get out! Bad-! Bad boy!"

He shuffled away and tried to kick his valid foot weakly. The dilophosaurus cocked its head to the side as it looked at him, visibly unafraid. It dropped the can on the floor before hopping into the front compartment and sniffing around curiously.

"Come on..." Dennis sighed.

He leaned forward and tried to push the front door open from behind the seat and coax the animal out when a loud croaking caught his attention. He straightened himself up to look over the small hill and saw two large dinosaurs snarling and hissing at each other on the road below. They looked exactly like the one that was currently chewing on his cup-holder, with the notable difference of being more than twice its size.

"Huh... So I guess you're still a baby..." Nedry said more to himself than to the young animal.

One of the dilophosauruses below suddenly jumped back, lowering its head as a set of large red and yellow frills opened on either side of its neck. The other animal responded by doing the same and the two slowly circled around each other, growling. While their stances looked very aggressive, they didn't seem to want to fight. They barely nipped at each other, preferring to jump around and hiss instead.

"Your species is really dumb, you know that?, Dennis mumbled, No wonder you guys are extinct-!"

He was interrupted when the ground suddenly began to shake and the two dilophosauruses cried out and ran away, climbing over the hill and running past either side of the jeep, smashing the back door closed in the process. The small dinosaur in the car squeaked nervously and curled up in the front seat, hiding its head beneath one of its legs.

"Oh god... What now?" Nedry whimpered as he hid behind his seat.

The sound slowly grew closer, sounding more and more like footsteps. Then suddenly a huge head emerged from between the trees further ahead, about 20 feet off the ground. The gigantic animal slowly exited the jungle and began following the road, its huge body lumbering along awkwardly as it walked in front of the car. It didn't seem to pay it any attention however. Instead it just kept walking away, carrying something between its jaws. Nedry felt the colours drain from his face as he realised it was a man. Even worse, from the thin gangly limbs and grey shorts it seemed to be that lawyer guy Hammond wanted to impress. Well... Needless to say that plan had certainly failed.

The T-Rex disappeared between the trees on the other side of the road and Nedry breathed a small sigh of relief.

The storm outside wasn't as strong anymore ; the thunder and wind had lessened. It was still raining just as much as before however, if not even more. The small dilophosaurus uncurled itself and sat up on the seat, chirping. It turned towards Dennis and leaned over to gently nudge his arm. The technician shook his head and open the car door again.

"Alright, you get out now. I have things to-"

A sudden gush of wind rocked the car, blowing liters and liters of rain inside. Nedry jumped and scrambled over to close the door.

"Okay... Maybe not now..."

He sighed and turned to the dilophosaurus, which was looking outside cautiously. It turned to him and hopped closer to nuzzle his hand.

"Let me guess... You don't like rain much either, uh?"

He patted its head gently and the dinosaur squealed happily. It nuzzled closer to him, making a sound that sounded just like a purr.

"... Alright, I guess I can let you stay here for a little while since you got me my can back..."

 _Even though those embryos wouldn't be of much use to him now..._

Nedry sighed and leaned back into his seat, watching as the dilophosaurus extended its neck towards him and placed its head in his lap. He scratched beneath its jaw gently while looking outside the window where the T-Rex had disappeared.

He had the creeping feeling the night was going to be very, very long...


	3. Robert Muldoon

The Parasaurolophus grunted softly before leaning down to drink in the river. It was acting cautious, but still seemed relaxed enough to keep its head down. Muldoon slowly pulled back the cord from his bow with two fingers, the tip of his wooden arrow lined up with the animal's throat. He held his breath, waiting. From where he was crouched under the foliage he could see the powerful neck muscles move beneath the skin as it swallowed. The parasaur blinked slowly. Once... Twice...

Before the eye could open a third time Muldoon released the cord. The arrow sliced through the air and pierced the animal's thick skin easily. With a cry the huge herbivore shot up and stumbled back, a river blood cascading down its neck. But Muldoon wasn't stupid. He knew a single arrow wouldn't be enough to take down such a huge creature ; it was used to fighting off giant predators on a daily basis and sustaining wounds far worse. He'd need more... "Sharpness".

Almost immediately, a loud reptilian hiss echoed through the jungle. Something big crashed through the foliage and ran right past him, ducking and jumping over fallen branches before disappearing into the tall grass. Two more shadows appeared a few feet away on either side of the hunter and bolted towards the valley. They were incredibly fast ; only taking a few seconds to reach the wounded animal. There was a loud cry from the parasaur and then one of the smaller dinosaurs jumped onto its back, appearing clearly in the sunlight: a velociraptor. About 8 feet in length ; 6 feet high ; greyish/brown skin with dark stripes down its back and retractible claws on its feet. The pack bit and scratched at their prey relentlessly as the herbivore cried out ; weakened by the blood loss. A few minutes later it finally fell to the ground, and Muldoon knew it was dead.

He stood up and wiped his brow before walking towards the kill site. The grass was so tall it nearly reached his shoulders, but he could still navigate easily towards the pack thanks to the snapping and snarling of the raptors and the smell of freshly spilled blood. He pushed his way through the vegetation and finally reached the carcass. The grass all around it was trampled flat and splashed with blood, evident signs of the battle which had taken place. Muldoon heard a loud hiss as the alpha female ("The Big One", as he liked to call her due to her size) turned towards him with a large slab of meat between her jaws. She snarled at him and took a step forward. In response, the hunter calmly took a step back and put one knee down, lowering his head. He let The Big One circle around him and sniff him, the smell of rotten flesh blowing in his face. She grunted softly before finally dropping the meat in front of him and returning to the carcass. Muldoon had learned how to behave around her ; how to show her respect. He may have been the one with opposable thumbs and a superior intellect, but she was still the boss around here. And the only reason he was still alive.

At first he wasn't sure why she had let him live, all those months ago. She could've killed him easily: he was alone and disarmed, lying on the ground, while she stood over him and had one of her subordinates nearby. But for some reason, she hadn't attacked. Instead, she had sent the other raptor away and kept standing over Muldoon, snarling whenever he tried to move away. It had taken him a while to realise she was actually debating whether or not to kill him.

It was true that he had somewhat of a bond with her and her pack. He had been there when each of them was born ; had helped nurse and feed them when they were still young. He had the feeling she still remembered that. She knew he had taken care of them and that, unarmed, he wasn't a threat. And then, luckily for him, the subordinate had come back croaking in alert. She had seemed nervous and so did The Big One. They'de forced him to follow them, nipping at him to keep in line. To his surprise they had led him to the kitchens where he could hear a faint rasping coming from the freezer. He had quickly figured out the third raptor was trapped in there and The Big One wanted him to open the door.

In hindsight, he now realised that's when he'd unknowingly earned himself a place in the pack. When he had opened that door and helped the third raptor out ; had her lay outside in the sun to warm up and regain her strength. He'd saved her life, and that's when The Big One had decided to keep him alive and by their side, because she knew he'd be much more useful to them that way. And Muldoon hadn't really had any other choice but to accept...

The game warden was pulled away from his thoughts by a loud snarling and turned around to see The Big One's two subordinates fighting over who got to eat first. The larger one of the two hissed loudly before suddenly lunging forward and nipping at her opponent's neck. The smaller raptor cried out and backed away with her tail between her legs, lowering her head. Muldoon had nicknamed them Beta and Omega, as it seemed to be the roles they filled within the pack. Beta growled one last time at her sister before going back to the carcass to feed. She was a bit smaller than The Big One and had slightly darker stripes, as well as a small scar on her snout and a larger one on her flank. She was also a lot more aggressive and much less patient than her leader... Omega meanwhile had a submissive, almost timid personality. She was also a bit smaller than her counterparts ; slower, weaker... As a result, she was the member that was the least cared for in the pack with a position that seemed to be even below Muldoon's.

The game warden took off his backpack, set it on the ground and opened it. The inside was thickly lined with ferns and palm leaves which allowed him to put the meat inside and transport it without getting blood everywhere. He knew they had to be quick. The smell of blood was always quick to attract other predators and scavengers...

As if to answer his worries, a distant roar resounded across the jungle as the ground began to rumble. Muldoon threw the meat into his bag before grabbing his hunting knife and began cutting off pieces from the carcass, trying to stuff his bag as much as possible. The Big One and Beta began eating faster too. Even Omega took advantage of the panic to get her share of the kill, scarfing down as much food as she could. Another roar resounded ; much closer this time. Muldoon threw his bag over his shoulder and took off with the rest of the pack as the tyrannosaurus' huge head emerged from between the trees on the other side of the valley. They disappeared into the jungle just as she charged towards the carcass.

The T-Rex had been acting rather oddly since the storm incident about a year ago. Muldoon had noticed that, contrary to what he'd heard about tyranosauruses she hardly ever seemed to hunt, usually preferring to steal the raptors' kills instead. She was also acting less territorial than he expected and only chased them away when they got too close to her cave- and even then, she never got too far away from it except to feed. Truth be told, she was acting the way he would have expected her to if she had a baby to protect. Which, of course, was impossible... Not because all the animals on the island were supposed to be female, no. He knew Henry Wu had messed up that part, because he'd seen herds with male individuals and even untagged babies the park hadn't cloned, meaning the animals were clearly able to breed. No, what made it impossible for Rexy to breed was that she was simply the only T-Rex on the entire island. So even if there were male animals, there was literally no way for her to have youngs. Sure, he'd seen lionesses in the wild adopt orphaned cubs as their own, but still... He doubted anything on this island could wake up her maternal instincts that way...

The Big One grunted softly as they entered the nesting site (which was really just an area of flattened grass surrounded by trees and thorn bushes), informing the rest of the pack they were free to split up and do whatever they wanted. Muldoon walked over to the edge of the clearing and pulled a second backpack down from a low hanging branch. He couldn't eat the meat he had just gathered without cooking it first ; but he also couldn't light up a fire right now with the raptors still nearby, so he had to eat something else for now. Originally he had stocked up on canned goods from the kitchens, but those hadn't lasted long... Luckily for him the island was overflowing with edible goods: he'd managed to find wild berries, nuts, fruits and even dig up some edible roots, all which he had stored in his second backpack. He moved through the bushes to reach another smaller clearing and sat down, setting both bags next to him. He took out a fruit and began eating hungrily, looking out into the jungle a little tiredly.

He could've sworn he could see a man and a dilophosaurus walking together in the distance...

But it was probably a mirage of some sort. He was the only human on this island... Muldoon shook his head and sighed, turning around as he heard soft footsteps slowly approach him from behind. Omega's head timidly poked out from between the bushes. She took a few steps forwards, sniffed around her, grunted softly and took a few more steps.

"Hungry?" Muldoon asked between two mouthfuls of fruit.

He opened his first bag and set a few slices of meat on the ground. Omega purred happily and walked over, picking them up and scarfing them down one by one. He always gathered up as much meat as possible during hunts and gave whatever surplus he had to Omega, since she never got to eat much- and if he didn't eat it it would spoil anyway. It had helped build her trust towards him in the beginning and had later just become a habit.

Omega finished the meat before lying down next to him with a full stomach. Muldoon gently stroked the side of her neck as he finished his fruit, listening as she purred happily. She was the one he had the strongest bond with. In a way, it almost made him feel at home... It was an odd thing, really. He'd never liked people, yet he had no problem putting his full trust in a bunch of prehistoric creatures...

Eh.

Maybe he really was crazy.

Maybe missing the helicopter wasn't such a bad thing after all.

Maybe this is where he was meant to be, on this island...

With his new family of clever girls...


	4. Eddie Carr

**A/N:** Hey everyone! Sorry for the wait, I've been having great trouble with this chapter (+ some stuff on the side) which is why it's short and probably feels really rushed. But I needed to get it out first so I could get to work on the other chapters. So things should get easier from now on since that's done!

Eddie sobbed in terror as he heard the two T-Rexes roaring right behind him. He slipped out of his seat and tried to crouch beneath the steering wheel ; screaming as the roof of his jeep was suddenly ripped apart in a terrible crunch of metal and glass. Rain began pouring into the vehicle as the hot, rancid breath of the animals wafted in the air.  
One of the T-Rexes swung its head down and tore the driver's door away. Terrified, Eddie desperately slammed his foot down on the gas pedal, trying to get his car to keep backing away. He tried to grab his rifle but its front sight was caught in the net around his bag. He tried to pull it as hard as he could- when a pair of jaws suddenly closed around the seat next to him and pulled it apart easily, setting off the airbag in the process. The T-Rex roared again and looked down at Eddie.  
The terrified man screamed and hopelessly tried to kick the animal's head away but a sharp, searing pain burst in his calf as teeth sunk into his flesh. He shouted and struggled violently as he was lifted up, the pain growing more and more intense as the pressure on his leg grew tighter. The T-Rex then began swinging him around as cold rain splashed against his face ; blood sputtering from the wound and cascading down his leg. Despite the tears clouding his vision, he could still distinctly see the other Tyrannosaurus slowly lumbering closer as it opened its jaws. Eddie sobbed and closed his eyes as he readied himself for the inevitable-  
An odd croaking resounded, only slightly muted by the rain. Still in a daze, Eddie re-opened his eyes to see a small animal hop towards the much bigger T-Rexes. The tiny dinosaur moved clumsily, one of its legs wrapped in a cast. It croaked and squeaked as one of the Tyrannosauruses leaned down to look at it more closely. It nudged it gently and made a soft purring sound, to which the small dinosaur responded. Now that it was closer, Eddie could see how much it looked like the two giant beasts. Could it be their baby...? The small animal croaked again and suddenly it seemed the ground was growing closer as Eddie realised he was being lowered down. The Tyrannosaurus slowly released his leg from its jaws and dropped him down. The mechanic was still dazed and disoriented. He curled up in the mud, soaking wet and shaking weakly, whimpering as he heard the groaning of the dinosaurs. Something warm gently pressed against his arm. He reopened his eyes and saw the baby T-Rex was standing right next to him, wagging its tail and licking his arm. It squealed happily and rubbed its snout against his face.  
After a few seconds the tech expert slowly sat up, looking at the small dinosaur which was awkwardly hobbling around on its valid leg ; then at the two parents. The bigger of the T-Rexes looked down at him for a moment before taking a step forward- to which the baby reacted by chirping and croaking aggressively. It stood between it and Eddie, making tiny growling sounds. The two adults looked at each other, seemingly just as confused as the human was. The small dinosaur squeaked again before turning back to the mechanic to nuzzle the side of his face.  
To Eddie, it looked like the baby was trying to protect him. And he had a feeling that cast on its leg had something to do with it. Maybe, since Nick and Sarah had fixed its leg, it didn't see humans as a threat (or food source) anymore... And didn't want its parents to eat one.  
The two adults reluctantly backed the away after a while which seemed to please the infant. It gave Eddie one last nuzzle before limping back to its parents happily and cuddling up to the bigger one's leg. The adult gently picked the baby up between its jaws and began walking away as the other carnivore snarled at Eddie before turning and following its mate.

Eddie heard a groan behind him and turned to see Nick, Sarah and Ian pulling themselves over the edge of the cliff and out of the trailer. He pulled himself up and slowly limped towards them.  
"I-Is everyone okay...?" he asked, still pale and shaking.  
The others were about to respond when they noticed the state he was in. Sarah quickly walked over and put an arm around the mechanic to support him.  
"I think the important question is are _you_ okay? What happened to your leg?"  
Eddie wiped the rain and sweat from his forehead, smiling weakly ; taking in short, shaky breaths. He looked like his mind was wandering somewhere else ; like his brain wasn't even processing the words he was saying.  
"'Rexes came back... 'Didn't want me around..."  
He laughed a little.  
"But I think the baby likes us... That's cute..."  
He laughed once more before coughing a bit.  
"Speaking of the baby, I hope you guys still have some of that cast-making-stuff around 'cause I think I'm gonna need it..."


	5. Dieter Stark

"Carter!"

Dieter Stark nervously sped up his pace, his voice echoing throughout the forest canopy as leaves and twigs crunched loudly beneath his feet. Every tree, every bush looked exactly the same to him. He could hear animals running around in the ferns, squeaking and hissing. He wiped sweat from his brow and nervously removed the safety catch from his gun.

"Goddammit... CARTER-!"

The ground beneath his foot suddenly gave way and Dieter found himself rolling down a steep, shrub covered slope. He shouted as dried ferns scratched at his face, his body bouncing painfully on sharp rocks as he rolled all the way down. At one point he felt the gun slip out of his hands as its strap got caught on a branch, but didn't even have time to process the information ; too caught up in being tossed down the hill. He finally reached the bottom after a few more agonizing seconds and landed hard on his stomach, dust lifting all around him. Dieter groaned painfully, coughing as he accidentally inhaled the cloud of dust. Everything in his sight was still spinning and he had to blink a few times to get his vision back to normal. A soft rustling caught his attention. He pushed himself up and looked around as he heard loud chirping erupting from everywhere around him ; all at once ; small animals crashing around in the shrubbery.

A small reptilian head suddenly popped out of the bushes in front of him, followed by a second, then a third and a fourth. A tiny dinosaur the size of a chicken hopped out of the vegetation and towards him as more heads appeared. The hunter recognized them as those dinosaurs Burke had been talking about, procompsognathuses ; _"Small scavengers that hunt wounded prey in groups"_ , as he had said...

"Hunt in groups"...

 _Shit_.

Dieter shot up as one of the animals hopped towards him and tried to bite his hand. The other dinosaurs began hissing loudly and circled around the hunter, jumping in an aggressive manner towards him every so often.

"Hey! Back off!"

He unclipped his cattle prod from his belt and held it out in front of him, turning it on. Bright electric arches crackled loudly at the end of the weapon as he waved it around in front of the animals to keep them at bay. The compies hissed at him again, but seemed to back away a little, reluctant to risk getting hurt.

A loud stomping suddenly echoed through the jungle and before Dieter could react something huge crashed through the foliage and lunged towards the group of compies. It was a large bipedal dinosaur about 9 feet high, green with reddish crests above its eyes. It snarled and jumped onto the fleeing pack, crushing one compy beneath its foot and snatching another one up between its jaws, shaking it violently before throwing it against the ground and catching another one ; biting hard. It swung around and knocked down even more of them with its thick tail before stomping over to crush them. In an instant the soil was splattered red with blood, a dozen mangled bodies lying on the ground. The surviving compies quickly scattered away back into the bushes, screeching.

Dieter remained frozen in place as he stared at the large animal. He tried to remember the briefing Burke had given them on the island's different dinosaurs- that one was kind of ringing a bell. He remembered the velociraptors, but that one was a lot bigger and the color wasn't right... No, it was a... A dilope... Dilopho... Dilophosaurus...?

Well, whatever it was, it didn't look too friendly and wasn't paying attention to him, too busy eating the compies it had managed to catch. Dieter slowly backed away, holding his cattle prod tightly in his hand. He took a step back and was about to turn around when a dried up branch loudly crunched beneath his boot. The dilophosaurus' head shot up and the dinosaur hissed loudly, a set of red and yellow frills opening on either side of its neck.

 _Oh god, definitely not friendly._

The animal dropped the wriggling compy it was holding in its maw and took a menacing step towards him. Dieter heard a low gurgling sound. He remembered Burke saying something about dilos and poison and barely had enough time to raise his arm in front of his face before the animal spat a dark, viscous goo at him. It splattered on his sleeve as the dilophosaurus roared loudly and jumped forward. Dieter swung his arm and pressed the tip of the rod right into the dinosaur's flank. The animal screeched in agony and jumped back, but the hunter didn't relent, jabbing the weapon into its side and trying to zap the animal as much as possible. After a few more moments the dilophosaurus finally let out one last cry before running off back into the depths of the jungle.

Dieter breathed a sigh of relief and turned off his cattle prod before clipping it back to his belt. He was about to walk away when a weak chirp caught his attention.

The compsognathus the dilo had dropped earlier was standing in the middle of the carnage, limping on one leg and nudging the corpses of its dead companions. It let out a soft cry before looking up at Dieter. The hunter sighed irritably as he looked down at the creature.

"What? You think I feel sorry for you?"

The compy croaked and hopped closer. Dieter groaned before walking away- but stopped when he heard tiny footsteps behind him. He turned and saw the compy was following him, hopping along awkwardly. The animal cried out to him, to which he responded by kicking some dust and gravel towards it.

"Fuck off! You're not coming with me!"

He clenched his fists and walked off, unclipping the cattle prod from his belt once more, just in case. He could hear the footsteps behind him start again but didn't bother looking back. The little bastard was gonna tire itself out and give up at some point anyway...

Or so he hoped. Because after walking what felt like a few miles, he could still hear the goddamn thing calling after him and marching just a couple hundred feet behind him. He was tempted to go back and give it a hearty zap to drive it away, but figured he should save the battery power in case a real threat came up. But still... He wasn't exactly sure what was keeping him from snapping the compy's neck in two... The soft splashing of water resounded nearby and Dieter decided he needed to take a drink. He cautiously approached the riverbank, opening his bottle and leaned over to plunge it underwater. From the corner of his eye, he noticed something small and green sluggishly walk towards him. He turned and saw it was the compy. The animal crouched next to him and extended its thin, long neck to drink the cool water.

Dieter's urge to just kick it in and watch it drown in the current was strong.

But he resisted, sighing. If the little dinosaur was so hellbent on following him around, then fine. It was probably gonna kill itself from exhaustion doing so. And hell, maybe that way it could make itself useful by drawing the predators' attention away from him...

The hours seemed to fly by like seconds.

Before Dieter even realised the light was dimming the sun had already started to set, tinting the sky with bright oranges and soft pinks. He still had no idea where Roland and the rest of the group was. Hell, he didn't even know if he was going towards the right side of the island! But if he couldn't find them, hopefully he'd still manage to find his way to the coast and signal for a boat or a plane...

He kept walking, the dense vegetation forming a bend in his path. He had had to stop a few times already to take short breaks, but now with the sun setting he was probably gonna have to stop exploring altogether. Running around in the dark wasn't going to do much good, especially considering this was a freaking dinosaur-infested island... Dieter sighed and sat down. The forest around him was quiet, safe for the gentle chirping of birds and the wind blowing through the trees.

The gentle pitter-patter of reptilian feet seemed to have finally stopped, too.

Yeah... Amazingly, the little compy had managed to follow him all the way, despite the blazing heat and having a bad limp. There were a few times when he thought he'd manage to lose it, but every time he sat down to take a break the little guy would appear from behind a bend or about a yard away down the road, just limping along. Dieter would be lying if he said he wasn't impressed. It had become some sort of game along the way ; looking back over his shoulder and trying to spot the compy in the distance. But now it seemed it seemed it had finally given up.

Dieter tapped his fingers on the handle of his cattle prod for a moment, pensive. The sun was setting fast. He'd have to climb up into a tree if he wanted to sleep safely. Predators probably ran wild at night... Tons of dangerous predators... He sighed.

"Alright..."

The hunter pushed himself off of the ground and stood up. He backtracked a few feet, back and around the bend to look over the path he'd just followed. To his surprise the compy was right there ; lying on its side about a few feet away, in the middle of the path. Dieter quickly walked over to it and saw it was still breathing, but looked absolutely exhausted. He crouched down next to the animal.

"You giving up now?"

The compsognathus let out a weak, shaky cry as it lifted its head to look at him and darted out its tongue. Dieter paused for a moment, thinking, as if contemplating something. He took a look around them, the sunlight disappearing even faster.

"... Y'know, I'm pretty sure something's gonna come and gobble you up if your stay there..."

The small dinosaur croaked softly. It tried to push itself up but its body was just too tired. Dieter sighed and pulled out his bottle.

Oh, what he was doing was stupid, sure. He was aware of that. But he couldn't help it.

He opened the bottle and gently poured a small stream of water near the animal's mouth. The compy squeaked and happily lapped it up, not losing a single of the precious drops. Once it was done it tried to stand again, revived by the fresh water ; and finally managed to push itself up on shaking legs. It hobbled awkwardly towards Dieter and pressed itself up against him. The hunter hesitated for a moment before sliding his hands underneath the small dinosaur and carefully picking it up. It wasn't too heavy, maybe about the same weight as a cat... He felt the compy crawl up his arm and nestle itself on top of his shoulder, not unlike a domesticated rat- well, a really _big_ rat...

Dieter couldn't help but smile a little at his new companion.

"Okay, you can stick around for now but I swear to God if you bite me I'm throwing you in the river."

The compy chirped happily and he gave it a small pat on the head.

The journey home was gonna be a long one for sure, but at least he had some company now...


End file.
